According to initial reports, officer Issac "Ike" Veal was traveling from Wahiawa toward Mililani when his 2000 Dodge Durango veered off the left shoulder then cut back across both lanes of traffic and hit a concrete barrier.

Police investigators said the impact caused the sports utility vehicle to flip several times. Veal, who lived in 'Aiea, was thrown from the Durango and died at the scene.

Police said that Veal was responding to an "in progress" call but would not say what the nature of the call was.

Officers who worked with Veal described him as a veteran with more than 25 years of service with the Honolulu Police Department.

They said Veal leaves behind a wife and family but did not know the ages of his children.

Michelle Yu, police spokeswoman, said Veal served in the U.S. Navy before joining the department.

Yu said Veal worked as a motorcycle officer and traffic investigator before he was assigned to the Wahiawa station as a patrol officer.

Veal investigated fatal traffic accidents in the mid- to late 1990s and most recently was assigned to the Wahiawa police district.

Traffic investigators said today that speed may have been a factor in Veal's death and they did not know if Veal was using a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

There have been 44 traffic fatalities on O'ahu so far this year, compared with 49 during the same period last year.